“It celebrates his life that he has led in the circus and all of the characters that he’s met over the years and people that he’s come close to,” said Cirque du Soleil’s Mark Shaub, calling from Victoria, British Columbia. “It’s really a celebration of life. So it’s a story that I think relates to a lot of people. You can almost taste it when you watch it.”

Shaub has been watching “Corteo” for more than 13 years, dating back to when as his first job for Cirque du Soleil the former modern dancer as artistic director was tasked with creating it as a big-top show.

Eventually, he left the touring production for other Cirque du Soleil properties, including “Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL World Tour,” “Dralion” and “LUZIA.” In 2015, he returned to “Corteo” during its last year touring South and Central America as big-top show.

When it came time to remount “Corteo” into an arena show, Shaub was the man to complete the transformation.

“Being the first Cirque du Soleil show I worked on, it kind of means a lot to me, but also I think ‘Corteo’ is just really such a beautiful show,” Shaub said. “I do fall in love with every show I work on, but with ‘Corteo’ I’ve seen it go through so many different transformations and changes. Each one of them has just made it better and stronger.”

As for the current incarnation of “Corteo,” Shaub said the heart of the show remains the same, with a cast of more than 50 acrobats, musicians, singers and actors from all around the world. However, the production side of performing a big top show in an arena required some creative reimaging.

For example, a big-top show includes a week of set-up, whereas the arena show is put up in 12 hours and taken down in four. Also, the reconfiguring meant the production’s big top show high-wire act had to be re-envisioned as a suspended pole act that Shaub described as adding a new and beautiful element to the performance.

Unlike other Cirque du Soleil productions, where entire seemingly unimaginable universes and languages are created, “Corteo” is a little bit more grounded.

“The thing that I love about ‘Corteo’ is the stories that it tells and the characters that are in there,” Shaub said. “(Director) Daniele Finzi Pasca is the creator of ‘Corteo,’ and he really brings out the humanity and the characters that are onstage.

“So in ‘Corteo,’ there’s not the bizarre, wild makeup and crazy costumes. We see people’s faces and therefore we see the emotions they’re portraying on the stage. So I think that it’s just a very heartfelt story.”

For fans of Cirque du Soleil, Shaub promises “Corteo” delivers a journey unlike any other show.

“If you let yourself go into a story and just let it transport you, I promise you’ll you get taken somewhere and experience all types of wonderful emotions,” Shaub said.